US SUPREME COURT RULES THAT LAW BANNING REGISTRATIONS OF “SCANDALOUS” TRADEMARKS VIOLATES FIRST AMENDMENT

On June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court said that “The
Lanham Act’s prohibition of ‘immoral or scandalous’ trademarks
violates the First Amendment.” In other words, free speech beat out
the Lanham Act, which is the governing law regarding trademarks.

Entrepreneur
Erik Brunetti started the clothing brand FUCT in 1990. It stands for
“Friends You Can’t Trust”, and he started it in order to
question authority and assumptions of society. It is pronounced like
the past tense of a certain profanity. Brunetti wants to gain
protection in the mark and expand rights against others trying to use
his mark.

Why is
this case such a big deal?

Now
people can register certain trademarks that may have been deemed
“immoral or scandalous” in the past. In this particular case, it
is a mark that sounds like a swear word. I will not be surprised to
see more and more trademark registrations that sound like swears
popping up.